1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information transmission device, which is installed on a robot or a computer and performs an information transmission between a person.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Conventionally, a switch or keyboard operation, a voice input/output, and an image display have been used for an information transmission between a person and a machine. These tools are sufficient for transmitting information that can be represented by a symbol or a word, but other types of information has not supposed to be transferred.
On the contrary, the information transmission between a machine and a person should be easy, accurate, and friendly, in preparation for the expected increasing of the contact between a machine and a person in a future. For this purpose, it is important to transfer not only information liken a symbol or a word but other types of information like emotion.
For exchanging information between a machine and a person, means for transmitting information from a person to a machine and means for transmitting information from a machine to a person are required. For expressing an internal state by latter means, the internal state has been expressed by adding prosody to synthetic voice or by providing a quasi face with emotional looking on a machine or by combining these visual and auditory information.
In the case of the machine interface apparatus disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication JP H06-139044, for example, an emotional parameter of an agent changes in accordance with a result of a task or with words addressed by a user. Then, a natural language, which was selected based on the emotional parameter, is provided to a user as a voice message. Additionally, the image corresponding to the selected natural language is displayed.
In the case of the invention disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication JP2002-66155, a feeling value of a robot changes when words are addressed by a user or the robot is touched by a user. Herewith, the robot utters a reply-sound corresponding to the feeling value and changes the eye color thereof to the color corresponding to the feeling value.
In the case of the invention disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication JP2003-84800, a voice message with an emotion is synthesized and is sounded in combination with a light of LED corresponding to the message with an emotion.
Here, for performing a friendly information transfer between a machine and a human, it is important that a machine recognizes an emotion of a person and a person recognizes an internal state of a machine. However, all of the above described inventions are focused on the internal state of the machine, and none of the above described inventions have any consideration of an emotion of others (person). Therefore, an information transmission device which enables the friendly information transmission between a machine and a human has been required.